About

$21,340

pledged of $13,000 goal

755

backers

Speakeasy is a 75-minute, hidden role/social deduction game for 10-40 people. It is simple to learn, but has lots of room for strategy and rewards repeat playing. Speakeasy can be played at home, in a pub, or anywhere the group can fit. It is not turn-based—the game happens continuously at the speed of your strategy.

When the game begins, each player receives a few cards which assign them a team, a secret role, and a password. They must then covertly discover who is on the team and who they can trust by dropping their password in conversation and using their role's special ability.

Why do these password cards look different than the ones in the video? See Update #11 for an answer.

As the game goes on, players find their teammates, infiltrate the other team, eavesdrop on other players' conversations, figure out their opponent's roles and passwords, discern the identity of the traitor on their team (the rat), sow misinformation by leaking false passwords, force enemies to reveal their cards, and use power cards to take points from other players.

The team that accumulate the most points by collecting point cards, figuring out the enemy team's roles and passwords, and identifying the rat on their team at the end of the game is the winner!

Game on. You head straight to a quiet corner and take a secretive peek at your cards, and memorize your role and password.

Let’s say you’re the Senator. (Welcome to the Feds!) Your password card says “Hesitate.” So you head back into the crowd and start identifying potential teammates. You listen hard for anyone dropping the word “hesitate” in conversation, and start telling stories of your six-year-old self hesitating before jumping off the diving board.

The Senator has plenty of strings he can pull back at the capitol. Your role’s special power is insider knowledge: specifically, the Moderator will disclose to you the identities of two players. Just to be safe, you decide to use this power to discover one ally and one enemy. “Moderator,” you say quietly, “A word on the sidewalk in thirty seconds?” You ask for the names of the Federal Marshal, the most connected role on your team, and the Boss, the most connected role in the Mob.

So now you know that John is the knight-like Federal Marshal, and Mary is the big bad Boss. You approach John, tell him what you’ve done, and show him your password card to prove that you’re on the same team (the Federal Marshal starts off with all of the Fed passwords). You and John decide to work together. He thinks you should purchase the Subpoena power card from the Moderator. You might lose a point in the process, but a Subpoena allows you to draw two cards from any player whose password you know, keep any point cards you draw, and give the rest back. John has a plan.

It’s time to start gathering some enemy intelligence. You know Mary is a Mobster, so you innocently join her conversation. Soon, you realize she’s saying the word “fish” an awful lot. Could it be her password? You corner Mary and say she’s been subpoenaed, brandishing the power card for proof. “’Fish’ is sounding pretty fishy to me,” you say. “Let me draw.” Turns out your hunch was right, and Mary fans out her cards for you to choose. A Senator doesn’t like a blind draw, so you take your time as John the Federal Marshal takes a stroll behind Mary’s shoulder and makes note of her team’s valuable passwords. You draw two cards from Mary and one of them is a point. You look at them both, keep the point, and return the other card.

Time for you and the Federal Marshal to split up and work different strategies. Since he has all of the Fed passwords, he’s going to start rallying the troops by listening for those words and making contact with the players saying them. As for you? Well, John passed on all of the Mob’s passwords to you when he saw Mary’s cards. And so, ever the politician, you’re going to work the other side by infiltrating the other team and leaking some false information. You scribble a few fake answers onto your info sheet and strike up a conversation. “Golly, I could use a drink,” you say casually to the first player you see, using one of the Mob passwords John passed along. “Where can a person get a drink around here?” But the person you are talking to doesn’t notice, so you try someone else. Finally: “Wait a minute,” Angelina says. “That’s my password. Are you a Mobster?” You reply that you are indeed. The two of you step away from the crowd and you show her your fake Mob info sheet. She writes down the fake roles and passwords of her supposed teammates.

Angelina also shows you her info sheet, and you copy down the information she was able to gather. Turns out your friend Thomas is the Mob’s Hitman and that Sally also has “drink” for a password. You promise to check in later as you both learn more. After she walks away, you grab John and tell him the information you learned. He introduces you to Richard, a Vigilante working with the Feds. You obtained your one power card already, but Richard hasn’t. The three of you head straight to the Moderator to see how a power card can help the Feds use “drink” against a Mobster.

As the game goes on, you continue to identify and organize your teammates, learn the roles and passwords of the Mob, use special abilities of the roles on your team, sow misinformation among your opposition, infiltrate the other team, acquire point cards, and protect your own. It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

Special thanks also go to: my wife, Lindsey, who has vicariously lived and breathed Speakeasy for the past three years, Matt Grosso, Greg Albright, Sandy Weisz, Max Temkin, Dan Boyd, Trinity Patton, Mary Delaware (designer), Anthony Aguinaldo (illustrator), and so many more friends who have given their time and ideas to this project!

Email Andy@thegamehaschanged.net with questions.

Risks and challenges

Over the past three years, hundreds of people have extensively playtested Speakeasy but I'll continue to tweak roles and powers until it goes off to the publisher, so if you have great ideas for the game, send them to andy@thegamehaschanged.net. One of the reasons I'm doing this Kickstarter is to bring a larger community into the game, so I want to hear from you!

Other than that, when it comes to publishing a game there are plenty of surprises (misprints, customs inspections, etc.) and things will come up that are out of my control (though I've tried to plan for as many of them as possible). If/when surprises come up, I will keep you abreast of them if they cause any delays and I'll sort them out as soon as possible!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $20 or more
About $20

(Early Bird Backers) Includes one copy of Speakeasy, backer updates, all stretch goals, and free shipping in the US. (To order more copies of the game, just increase the amount of your pledge by $20 per additional copy of the game.)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $25 or more
About $25

Includes one copy of Speakeasy, backer updates, all stretch goals, and free shipping in the US. (To order more copies of the game, just increase the amount of your pledge by $25 per additional copy of the game. For international shipping, add an additional $5 in shipping for each additional copy of the game.)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $55 or more
About $55

Includes one copy of Speakeasy, a Kickstarter-exclusive strategy guide designed by the creator delivered to your door, your name permanently listed in the "thank you" section of the instruction booklet, backer updates, all stretch goals, and free shipping in the US.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

Includes one copy of Speakeasy, a Kickstarter-exclusive poster with all the Speakeasy role card character illustrations on it, your name permanently listed in the "thank you" section of the instruction booklet, a Kickstarter-exclusive strategy guide designed by the creator and delivered to your door, backer updates, all stretch goals, and free shipping in the US.